The Heart Will Go On
by AjAwkwardsauce
Summary: Seventeen year old Regina Mills is engaged to marry business tycoon, Leopold White, and become his daughter's mother. Twenty year old Emma Swan, is an American drifter with her best friend, Ruby Lucas. On April 12, 1912 the grandest ship in existence set sail. The Ship of Dreams, they called it. It became the ship of nightmares.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all! I have this lovely little story for you. It is a crossover between Once Upon a Time and Titanic. The characters that will be appearing throughout are: Emma as Jack, Regina as Rose, Leopold as Cal, Cora as Ruth, Belle as Molly Brown, Mr. Gold as Mr. Andrews, Ruby as Fabrizio and Neal as Tommy. There are also new characters that I added to spice up the plot. Mary-Margaret is her own character and so is Henry. Both are considerably younger than they are in the Once universe. **

Chapter 1

The day opened brightly on April 10th, 1912 in Southampton England. It was nearing noon and the pier next to the Titanic was packed full of people embracing, shouting farewells and waving bon voyage wishes to friends and relatives on the decks of the enormous ship. Two cars pulled slowly through the people and stopped among the masses. The driver scurried to open the door for a young woman to step out.

Seventeen year old, Regina Mills, heir to the Mills' debt exited the car dressed in a stunning white and purple pinstriped dress. She had long black hair tied in an intricate up-do and she looked up at the ship, taking it in with cool appraisal.

"I don't see what all the fuss is about. It doesn't look any bigger than the Mauretania." Regina said. She was determined to be as cold and unhappy about this arrangement as she could afford to be. The valet opened the door on the other side of the car and Regina's fiancé, Leopold White, stepped out with his young daughter, Mary-Margaret, leading the way.

"Oh, Regina! It's such a big boat!" She grinned. Regina glanced down at the girl with mild disgust.

"You can be blasé about some things, Regina, but not about Titanic. It's over a hundred feet longer than Mauretania and far more luxurious. It has squash courts, a Parisian café, even Turkish baths." Leopold said turning back, giving his hand to Regina's mother, Cora. She was a society empress, a widow and a ruthless mother.

"Your daughter is much too hard to impress, Cora." He sneered. Cora ignored his remark and looked at the ship.

"So, this is the ship they say is unsinkable." She commented.

"It is unsinkable. God himself could not sink this ship!" Leopold grinned. He was prideful to be the host of the special experience of the Titanic. Regina rolled her eyes as Leopold handed money over to a porter to take their baggage to their rooms in the ship. Mary-Margaret skipped over to Regina and grabbed her hand.

"Isn't it just beautiful, Regina?" She asked brightly looking up at the woman to be her new mother.

"It is just." Regina sighed.

"We'd better hurry, this way, ladies." Leopold led the way forward through the crowd toward the first class gangway. They passed between vehicles and handcarts, hurrying passengers, mostly second class and steerage, and family members wishing goodbye. Most first class passengers avoided the dockside crowd by using elevated boarding bridges, twenty feet above.

"Steerage swine." Leopold hissed as a man bumped into him chasing after his son.

"Honestly, Leopold, if you weren't forever booking everything at the last instant, we could have gone through the terminal instead of running along the dock like some squalid immigrant family." Cora admonished.

"All part of the charm, Cora, at any rate, it was my darling fiancée's beauty rituals which made us late." He glanced back at Regina who held onto Mary-Margaret's hand.

"_You_ told me to change." She grumbled at him.

"I couldn't let you wear black on sailing day, sweetpea. It's bad luck." He said too sweetly.

"I felt like black." She commented.

"Here I've pulled every string I could to book us on the grandest ship in history, in her most luxurious suites and you act as if you're going to your execution." He shook his head and Cora glared at her daughter. Regina looked up as the hull of Titanic loomed over them. A great iron wall, black and severe. Leopold motioned her forward, and she entered the gangway to the D Deck doors with a sense of overwhelming dread. Leopold took Mary-Margaret's hand and she released Regina's. Leopold grabbed Regina's arm in his free hand and escorted her up the gangway. The ships triple steam horns blasted, bellowing their departure warning.

The steamer's whistle echoed across Southampton. All the way to a pub a few blocks away. It was crowded full of dockworkers and the ship's crew. Just inside the window that had a view of the massive ship there was a poker game in progress. Two women and two men, dressed in working class clothing, played a serious hand. The two women, Emma Swan and Ruby Lucas, glanced at each other as the men argue in Swedish. Emma was American, a tall and skinny blonde drifter. Her blonde curls hung around her shoulders in a lanky mess and her clothes were rumpled from sleeping in them. She was an artist, and very sure-footed for a twenty year old woman, having lived on her own since she was a young girl.

"Hit me again, Sven." Emma smirked. She took a card and slipped it into her hand watching the rest of the table. Ruby licked her lips nervously and glanced down at the pot in the middle. Coins and bills littered the center and two third-class tickets for the RMS Titanic rested on top. The Titanic's whistle blew again in the distance.

"The moment of truth, somebody's life is about to chance." Emma said. Ruby put down her cards and so did the two men. Emma held hers close.

"Let's see, Ruby's got nothing. Olaf, you've got squat. Sven, uh oh, two pair." She turned to Ruby. "Sorry, Rubes."

"What sorry? What have you got? You lost all my money?" Ruby stood up and started shouting. That was her monthly earnings.

"Sorry, you're not gonna see your Grandmother again for a long time." Emma grinned slapping a full house down on the table.

"Cause you're goin' to America!" She shouted. The tabled exploded, shouting in several languages. Emma raked in the money and the tickets.

"Sorry boys, three of a kind and a pair. I'm high and you're dry and we're going to America!" Emma said and Ruby cheered. Olaf balled up his fist and swung towards Emma but instead punched Sven. Emma kissed the tickets and then jumped onto Ruby's back.

"Going home! To the land of the free and the home of the real hot dogs! On the Titanic! We're riding in high style now. We're practically goddamned royalty, Rubes!" She yelled.

"I am going to America and I'm going to become a millionaire, then Granny won't have to run her bed and breakfast!" Ruby turned to the pubkeeper. "I'm going to America!" She said proudly.

"No, mate, Titanic is going to America. In five minutes." He pointed to the clock.

"Shit." Emma said. "Come on, Rubes." She grabbed their satchels and ran out of the pub. Emma and Ruby carrying everything they own in the world in the bags on their shoulders, sprinted toward the pier. They tore through the milling crowds next to the terminal. They were shouted at as they jostle slow-moving people and dodge piles of luggage. They ran up to the third class gangway and reached the bottom of the ramp just as the officer detached it.

"Wait! We're passengers!" Emma yelled. She was flushed and waving her tickets at the man but she couldn't get her grin off her face as her heart pounded hard in her chest.

"Have you been through the inspection queue?" The man asked.

"Of course!" Emma lied joyfully. "Anyway, we don't have lice, we're Americans." She looked back at Ruby. "Both of us."

"Right, come aboard." The man gestured. They jump across the gap and hand over their tickets. Emma and Ruby whooped with victory as they ran down the white-painted corridor grinning from ear to ear.

"We're the luckiest sons of bitches in the world!" Emma laughed. They ran up to the deck and Emma leaned over the rail and started yell and wave to the crowd on the dock.

"You know somebody?" Ruby asked from behind her.

"Of course not. That's not the point." She turned back to the crowd. "Goodbye! Goodbye! I'll miss you!" She screamed. Ruby laughed and jumped up beside Emma. She started to yell as well and in that moment the exhilaration filled both of them and they could've been the richest people on the boat for all they cared.

"Goodbye! I will never forget you!" Ruby cheered.

The huge ship pulled away from the dock and the crowd continued to wave. Emma and Ruby grew bored of waving and decided to go find their rooms. They walked down a narrow corridor with doors lining both sides like a college dorm. Total confusion enveloped the hall as people argued over luggage in several languages and wander through the labyrinth. They passed emigrants studying signs over the doors, and looking up words in phrase books. They found their room eventually. It was a small cubical with four bunks and exposed pipes overhead. There were two guys already settled in. Emma threw her bag onto an open bunk and Ruby climbed onto the top.

The one man turned and looked at his companion.

"Where is Sven?" He asked in Swedish. Emma shook hands with both of the men and then turned back to find Ruby sitting smugly on the top bunk.

"Who said you get the top?" She pinched the woman's arm.

Several floors up in the Millionaire Suite, Regina stood in the sitting room looking over her collection of paintings, making sure none were harmed. Leopold stood outside on their private promenade deck with his daughter. He talked through the doorway to Regina.

"Those mud puddles were certainly a waste of money." He told her. Mary-Margaret leaned over the edge of the ship and watched the waves, the white ribbons in her hair blowing in the wind.

"You're wrong. They're fascinating. Like in a dream, there's truth without logic. What's his name again?" She glanced at the bottom of the canvas. "Picasso." She nodded to herself. "Yes, that's right."

"He'll never amount to a thing, trust me. At least they were cheap." Leopold walked into the room as a porter wheeled his moss colored private safe into the room.

"Put that in the wardrobe." He instructed. The man nodded and pushed it passed Leopold. Regina carried a painting into the bedroom. She set it on the dresser, her servant was hanging up her clothes in the wardrobe.

"It smells so brand new. Like they built it all just for us. I mean, just to think that tonight, when I crawl between the sheets, I'll be the first –"

Leopold entered the room and glanced at Regina.

"And when I crawl between the sheets tonight, I'll _still_ be the first." He said to her.

"S'cuse me, Miss." Regina's servant ducked and edged around Leopold, blushing at the innuendo. He came up behind Regina and put his hands on her shoulders. It was an act of possession void of any intimacy.

"The first, and only. Forever." He said to her. Regina stared forward blankly.

At Cherbourg a woman came aboard named Isabella Brown, but everyone called her Belle. She was what the first class natives would call "new money" because her husband had struck gold someplace out west. She dressed in the finery of her peers but would never be one of them.

It was dusk when the ship had made its final stop and was heading west from the coast of Ireland with nothing ahead of it but ocean.

Emma and Ruby were standing at the bow of the ship, gripping the curved railing and Emma leaned over, looking down fifty feet to where the prow cut the surface like a knife, sending up two glassy sheets of water. Ruby leaned over as well and she pointed out excitedly as two dolphins appeared out of the glassy water. They jumped clear of the water and dove back, crisscrossing in front of the bow and dancing in the water. Ruby looked out across the Atlantic.

"I can see the Statue of Liberty, already." She joked winking at Emma. "It's very small of course." Emma laughed. This was the life.

**Are you ready for the emotional ride of your life? Please be kind and review. **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was another bright and clear day and the first class were dining richly for lunch. The group assembled together at the table was composed of the master shipbuilder, prominent investors, Leopold, Regina, Cora, Mary-Margaret, and Belle. It is beautiful and sunny surrounded by enclosed high arched windows.

"She is the largest moving object ever made by the hand of man in all of history, and our master shipbuilder here, Mr. Gold, designed her from the keel plates up." An investor, Mr. Ismay, indicated.

"Well, I may have knocked her together, but the idea was Mr. Ismay's. He envisioned a steamer so grand in scale, and so luxurious in its appointments, that its supremacy would never be challenged. And here she is, willed into solid reality." Mr. Gold said.

"Why're ships always bein' called 'she'?" Belle asked in a thick Australian accent. "Is it because men think half the women around have big sterns and should be weighed in tonnage? Just another example of the men settin' the rules their way." She said. The waiter arrived to take orders. Regina lit a cigarette. Cora leaned toward her daughter.

"You know I don't like that, Regina." Regina ignored her mother.

"She knows." Leopold took the cigarette from her and stubbed it out. "She won't be setting a bad example for my little princess." He winked at Mary-Margaret. The young girl giggled and Regina scowled.

"Smoking is a filthy habit." Mary-Margaret parroted. Her bright grin was aimed only at her father.

"That's my girl." Leopold praised and turned to the waiter.

"The three of us will have the lamb. Rare, with a little mint sauce." He told him. The man nodded and jotted the order down. Leopold glanced at Regina.

"You like lamb, don't you sweetpea?" He asked. Belle had watched the dynamic between Regina, Leopold, Cora and Mary-Margaret.

"So, you gonna cut her meat for her too, there, Leo?" She laughed and turned to Mr. Ismay. "Hey, who came up with the name Titanic?"

"I did actually." Mr. Ismay said. "I wanted to convey sheer size. And size means stability, luxury, safety and most of all power."

"Do you know of Dr. Freud?" Regina interrupted. Everyone at the table turned to her. "His ideas about the male preoccupation with size might be of a particular interest to you, Mr. Ismay." She said. Mr. Gold choked on his breadstick and Belle chuckled.

"My God, Regina, what has gotten into you?" Cora scolded.

"Excuse me." Regina stood up and dropped her napkin on the table before walking away.

"I do apologize." Cora said mortified.

"She's a pistol, Leo. You sure you can handle her?" Belle asked.

"Well, I may have to start minding what she reads from now on." He frowned.

-The Heart Will Go On-

Outside, Emma sat with Ruby and a man talking. She had her sketchbook propped against her knees and she drew with skilled sure lines a father and daughter standing against the rail. A steward came by, walking three small dogs around the deck.

"That's typical. First class dogs come down here to take a shit." The man commented. Emma glanced up.

"That's so we know where we rank in the scheme of things." She said.

"Like we could forget." He leaned forward, extending his hand, "The name's Neal." He introduced himself.

"Emma, and this is my friend, Ruby." She pointed. Ruby and Neal shook hands and suddenly Emma was completely enthralled in something behind Neal. She stared up at Regina, wearing a long yellow dress and white gloves, unable to look away. They were across from each other, maybe sixty feet apart, with the well deck like a valley between them. She stood on the higher deck out of reach, as if on a mountain while Emma sat on the steerage deck. Regina stared out at the water. Emma watched as Regina unpinned her elaborate hat and took it off. She looked at the frilly thing and tossed it over the rail. It sailed down to the water and was carried away. She shook her head.

"Absurd." Regina frowned. Emma was riveted by her. She looked like a figure in a romantic novel, sad and isolated. Ruby tapped Neal and they both looked at Emma gazing at Regina. The two grinned at each other. Regina turned suddenly and looked right at Emma. She was caught staring, but didn't look away. Regina did, but then looked back. Their eyes met across the gulf between worlds. Leopold came up behind Regina and took her arm. She jerked away and they argued. She stormed away and he followed after her.

"Forget it, you'd as likely have angels fly out your arse as getting next to the likes of her." Neal laughed. Emma scowled and slammed her sketchbook closed and stalked away. Ruby shrugged at Neal.

-The Heart Will Go On-

Regina sat at her table, with her company, not hearing a word they said. She stared forward blankly at her plate. She excused herself and left the table, walking along the corridor. A steward came the other way and greeted her. She nodded with a slight smile, keeping herself perfectly composed. She entered the room and stood in the middle, staring at her reflection in the large vanity mirror. With a primal, anguished cry she clawed at her throat, ripping off her pearl necklace, which exploded across the room. In a frenzy she tore at herself, her clothes, her hair, then she attacked the room. She flung everything off the dresser and it flew clattering against the wall. She hurled a hand-mirror against the vanity, cracking it. She needed to escape.

She ran along the promenade, disheveled, hair flying. She was crying, her cheeks streaked with tears, she was also furious. Shaking with emotions, she was filled with desperation. She passed a couple and they were shocked at the emotional display in public.

Emma was kicked back on one of the benches gazing at the stars. She heard something and turned watching as Regina ran up the stairs. They were the only two on the stern deck. Regina didn't see Emma in the shadows and ran right past her. Regina ran over to the rail and stopped. Her breathing was hard and she was trying to suppress her sobs but they were coming out in broken gasps. She stared out at the black water. She started to climb over the railing. She hitched her dress up and she was clumsy in her heals. Her back was to the railing, she faced out toward the blackness. Sixty feet below her the massive propellers were churning the Atlantic into white foam. She leaned out, her arms straightening, she looked down hypnotized. Her dress and hair blew around in the wind.

"Don't do it." Regina whipped her head around at the sound of Emma's voice. It took her a second for her eyes to focus.

"Stay back! Don't come any closer!" She yelled.

"Take my hand. I'll pull you back in." Emma reached out slowly, carefully.

"No! Stay where you are! I mean it! I'll let go!" Regina was terrified.

"No you won't." Emma said surely.

"What do you mean no I won't? Don't presume to tell me what I will and will not do. You don't know me." Fury etched its way into Regina's heart again. Everyone was always trying to tell her what to do. Even a dirty girl from steerage.

"You would have done it already. Now come on, take my hand." Emma urged again. Regina was confused. She couldn't see her very well through her tears so she wiped them away with one hand, almost losing her balance.

"You're distracting me. Go away." She hissed.

"I can't. I'm involved now. If you let go I have to jump in after you." Emma shrugged taking another step forward.

"Don't be absurd. You'll be killed." Regina narrowed her eyes. Emma shrugged again, this time taking off her red leather jacket.

"I'm a good swimmer."

"The fall alone would kill you." Regina glared.

"It would hurt. I'm not saying it wouldn't. To be honest I'm a lot more concerned about the water being so cold." Emma frowned unlacing her shoe. Regina noticed she was wearing mens' shoes. Absurd.

"How cold?" She looked down at the water below. It was black. Not as comforting as it had been a few minutes ago.

"Freezing. Maybe a couple of degrees over." Emma answered.

"Have you ever been to Wisconsin?" She asked. Regina was perplexed.

"No."

"Well, they have some of the coldest winters around, and I grew up there, near Chippewa Falls. Once, when I was a kid, me and my father were ice-fishing out on Lake Wissota…ice fishing is where you chop a hole in the –"

"I know what ice fishing is!" Regina snapped.

"Sorry, just you looked like kind of an indoor girl. Anyway, I went through some thin ice and I'm telling you, water _that_ cold, like right down there, it hits you like a thousand knives stabbing all over your body. You can't breathe, you can't think…least not about anything but the pain." She pulled off her other shoe. "Which is why I'm not looking forward to jumping in after you. But like I said. I don't see a choice. I guess I'm kinda hoping you'll come back over the rail and get me off the hook here." She was charming that was for sure.

"You're crazy." Regina said.

"That's what everybody says. But with all due respect, Miss, I'm not the one hanging over the back of a ship." She slid one step closer.

"Come on, you don't want to do this. Give me your hand." She pleaded. Regina stared at her for a long time. She looked at her green eyes and they somehow suddenly seemed to fill her universe.

"Alright." She agreed. She unfastened one hand from the rail and reached it around toward her. Emma reached out to take it firmly.

"I'm Emma Swan." She introduced.

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Swan." Regina's voice quavered. "I'm Regina Mills." She started to turn. Now that she had decided to live the height was terrifying. She was overcome by vertigo as she shifted her footing, turning to face the ship. As she started to climb her dress got in the way and she slipped. She plunged, letting out a piercing shriek. Emma gripped her hand and was jerked toward the rail. Regina barely grabbed a lower rail with her free hand. The quartermaster up on the docking bridge heard the scream and headed for the ladder.

"Help! Help!" Regina screamed.

"I've got you! I won't let go!" Emma assured. She held her with all her strength and braced herself on the railing. Regina tried to get some kind of foothold on the smooth hull but failed. Emma tried to lift her body over the railing. Regina couldn't get any footing in her dress and evening shoes and she slipped back. She screamed again. Emma awkwardly clutched Regina by whatever she could get a grip on as the woman flailed. She finally got her over the railing. They fell together onto the deck in a tangled heap, spinning in such a way that Emma ended up slightly on top of her. They were both breathing hard and the quartermaster ran up and pulled Emma off of Regina, revealing her disheveled and sobbing on the deck.

"What's all this?" the quartermaster shouted. Regina's dress was torn and the hem pushed up above her knees, showing one ripped stocking. The quartermaster looked over Emma, a shaggy woman from steerage who appeared to have attacked a first class lady.

"You stand back! Don't move an inch!" He yelled at Emma. "Fetch the Master at Arms!" He ordered the two seamen who ran up to join them.

A few minutes later Emma was being detained by the Master at Arms. He was handcuffing Emma and Leopold was standing in front of her, furious. He had obviously just rushed outside from his brandy and cigar because he did not have a coat over his black tie evening dress. Regina was hunched over and crying on a bench nearby.

"What made you think you could put your hands on my fiancée? Look at me, you filth! What did you think you were doing? Dyke." He spat.

"Leo, stop! It was an accident?" Regina stood up, coming to the woman's rescue. Leopold turned to face Regina, appalled.

"An accident? How on earth does this kind of accident occur, Regina?" He asked.

"It was stupid really, I was leaning over and I slipped." Regina made eye contact with Emma. "I was leaning way over, to see the…ah…propellers. And I slipped and I would have gone overboard, and Miss Swan here saved me and she almost went over herself." Regina explained.

"You wanted to see the propellers?" Leopold asked. She nodded. The Master at Arms looked at Emma.

"Was that the way of it?" He prodded her arm. Regina begged Emma with her eyes not to say what really happened.

"Uh huh, that was pretty much it." She agreed.

"Well, then the girl is a hero then, well done." The Master at Arms congratulated her and uncuffed her. Leopold got Regina to her feet and started moving.

"Let's get you in. You're freezing." He rubbed her arms.

"Ah, perhaps something for the girl who saved your fiancée?"

"Oh, right, Sidney. A twenty should do it." Leopold told his friend.

"Is that the going rate for saving the woman you love?" Regina asked.

"Regina is displeased. What to do?" He turned back to Emma. He appraised the woman condescendingly. She was a steerage ruffian, unwashed and ill-mannered.

"I know!" He said to himself proudly before returning his attention to Emma. "Perhaps you could join us for dinner tomorrow, to regale our group with your heroic tale?" He suggested. Emma looked straight at Regina.

"Sure, count me in."

"Good. It's settled then." Leopold turned to go, putting a protective arm around Regina.

**And there it is. Chapter two. It would mean a great deal if you would share your lovely thoughts on this story in a review. **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was Saturday, April 13th, 1912. Regina unlatched the gate to go down into third class and the steerage men on the deck below stopped what they're doing and stared at her. She made her way to the social center of steerage life, the third class general room. It was stark by comparison to the opulence of the first class, but it was a loud, boisterous place. There were mothers with babies, kids running between the benches yelling in several languages and being scolded in several more. There were old women yelling, men playing chess, girls doing needlepoint and reading dime novels. There was even an upright piano and Neal was playing around with it.

Emma was sitting at a table drawing when she noticed the hush that fell over the room. Regina felt self-conscious as the steerage passengers stared openly at her as if she were royalty. Some looked on with resentment, others with awe. She spotted Emma and gave a little smile, walking straight to her. She stood to meet the woman, smiling.

"Hey, Emma." Regina greeted.

"Hello again." Emma nodded.

"Could I speak to you in private?" Regina folded her hands in front of her.

"Uh, yes, of course, after you." She motioned ahead and followed, glancing over her shoulder at Ruby and Neal as she walked out with her leaving a stunned silence. Emma and Regina walked side by side. They passed people reading and talking some of whom glanced curiously at the mismatched duo. Emma felt out of place in her rough clothes.

"Miss Swan I –" Regina began.

"Emma." She corrected.

"Emma…I feel like such an idiot. It took me all morning to get up the nerve to face you."

"Well, here you are."

"Here I am. I – I wanted to thank you for what you did. Not just for pulling me back. But for your discretion."

"You're welcome, Regina."

"Look, I know what you must be thinking! Poor little rich girl. What does she know about misery?" Regina frowned and looked around the deck.

"That's not what I was thinking. What I was thinking was, what could have happened to hurt this girl so much she thought she had no way out." Emma looked at her curiously.

"I don't – it wasn't just one thing. It was everything. It was them, it was their whole world. And I was trapped in it, like an insect in amber. I just had to get away, just run and run and run and then I was at the back rail and there was no more ship. Even the Titanic wasn't big enough. Not enough to get away from them. And before I'd really thought about it, I was over the rail. I was so furious. I'll show them. They'll sure be sorry!" She said in a rush.

"Uh, huh, they'll be sorry. Of course…you'll be dead." Emma nodded. Regina dropped her head. Her hair fell into her eyes.

"Oh God, I am such an utter fool." She muttered.

"The penguin last night, is he one of them?" Emma asked. Regina looked up in confusion.

"Penguin? Oh, Leopold. He is them." She said.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Emma questioned with a hint of regret in her voice.

"Worse I'm afraid." She showed her the engagement ring, a sizable diamond.

"Look at that thing! You would have gone straight to the bottom." Emma said. They laughed together, and a passing steward scowled at Emma, who was clearly not a first class passenger, but Regina just glared him away.

"So, you feel like you're stuck on a train you can't get off cause you're marrying this fella?" Emma clarified.

"Yes, exactly." Regina nodded.

"So don't marry him." Emma suggested innocently, as if it were the only clear solution. Regina shook her head and turned away.

"If only it were that simple."

"It is that simple." Emma insisted, following behind her.

"Oh, Emma, please don't judge me until you've seen my world." She pleaded.

"We'll I guess I will tonight." She smirked. Looking for another topic, Regina indicated to Emma's sketchbook that she had tucked under her arm.

"What's this?"

"Just some sketches." Emma answered. Regina motioned for it.

"May I?" The question was rhetorical because she had already grabbed the book. She sat on a deck chair and opened the book. She flipped through the pages carefully. Each work was an expressive little bit of humanity; an old woman's hands, a sleeping man, a father and daughter. Some loose sketches fell out and were taken by the wind. Emma scrambled after them, catching two, but the rest were gone, over the rail.

"Oh, no! I'm so sorry! Truly!" Regina said.

"Don't worry about it, plenty more where they came from." She snapped her wrist, shaking her drawing hand with a flourish. "I just seem to spew them out, besides, they're not worth a damn anyway." For emphasis she threw away the two she caught, they sailed off into the wind.

"You're deranged." Regina observed. She returned to the book, turning a page.

"Well, well…" She had come upon a series of nudes. Regina was transfixed by the languid beauty Emma had created. Her nudes were soulful, real, with expressive hands and eyes. They felt more like portraits than studies of the human form…almost uncomfortably intimate. Regina blushed, closing the book slightly as some strollers went by.

"And these were drawn from life?" She asked, trying to sound like an adult.

"Yep, one of the great things about Paris, lots of girls willing to take their clothes off." Emma said honestly. Regina scrutinized Emma seriously for a moment before facing the book again. She studied one drawing in particular, the girl posed half in sunlight, half in shadow, her hands lie at her chin, one furled and one open like a flower, languid and graceful.

"You liked this woman, you used her several times." She remarked. Emma leaned forward.

"She had beautiful hands." She explained.

"I think you must have had a love affair with her…" Regina was fishing for an answer to a question she didn't know how to ask.

"No, no! Just her hands." Emma laughed.

"You have a gift, Emma, you do. You see people." Regina said.

"I see you." Emma said looking at the other woman in the morning sunlight. Her skin had taken on a golden tone, and her eyes were bright. Her long black hair hung poised around her shoulders.

"And?" Regina prompted.

"You wouldn't have jumped." Emma said.

-The Heart Will Go On-

It was a great deal later and they were still together, no one really seemed to care that Regina had spent her entire day with Emma. They strolled along the deck, past people lounging on deck chairs in the slanting late-afternoon light. Stewards scurried to serve tea or hot cocoa.

"You know, my dream has always been to just chuck it all and become an artist. Living in a garret, poor but free!" Regina confessed. Emma laughed.

"You wouldn't last two days. There's no hot water, and hardly ever any caviar."

"Now you listen here, I hate caviar! And I'm tired of people dismissing my dreams with a chuckle and a pat on the head!" Regina's anger came and went quickly.

"I'm sorry, really, I am." Emma bowed her head.

"Well, alright. There's something in me, Emma. I feel it. I don't know what it is, whether I should be an artist, or a dancer or a moving picture actress. I just, there's something else besides this porcelain doll." They leaned against the rail, shoulder to shoulder, as the evening sun set and the ship's lights came on. It was a magical moment. Perfect. The sound of someone clearing their throat came from behind them and Regina and Emma turn around. Cora, her friends and Belle Brown stood as if waiting for an answer to an unasked question.

"Come now, Regina, it is time to dress for dinner." Cora grabbed her daughter's elbow roughly and steered her forward.

"I hear you will be accompanying us to dinner this evening, how _charming_." Cora commented at Emma before stalking off and taking her daughter with her. Belle stepped forward and snapped her fingers in Emma's face, drawing her attention from the retreating Regina.

"What are you planning on wearing this evening?" Belle asked. Emma looked down at her clothes, a pair of slacks, men's boots and shirt and a red leather jacket. She looked back at Belle. She had not thought about that.

"I figured." Belle said, gesturing her forward.

-The Heart Will Go On-

Dresses and petticoats and corsets were draped and strewn across Belle's suite by the time Emma was dressed. Belle was tightening a fastener on the bodice of her dress and she looked up at the woman and smiled. She had been bathed and her hair styled and dressed in women's clothing.

"My, my, my, you shine up like a new penny." Belle grinned proudly.

-The Heart Will Go On-

The sky was purple, shot with orange, in the west and the sound of classical music drifted across the main deck. Emma walked along the promenade looking stunning in her borrowed dress, right down to her pearl necklace. A steward bowed and smartly opened the door to the first class entrance.

"Good evening, Madam." Emma played the role smoothly, nodding with just the right degree of disdain. She stepped in and her breath was taken away by the splendor spread out before her. Overhead was an enormous glass dome, with a crystal chandelier at its center. Sweeping down six stories was the first class grand staircase, the epitome of the opulent naval architecture.

And the people: the women in their floor length dresses, elaborate hairstyles and abundant jewelry, the gentlemen in evening dress, standing with one hand at the small of the back, talking quietly.

Emma felt like she was playing dress up and she wasn't even doing a good job at it. She didn't know how to stand in a corset or walk in heels. The pearls around her neck felt heavy and her golden curls seemed too simple. Emma descended the staircase. People watched her with mild confusion, probably wondering where her escort was.

Leopold came down the stairs, with Cora on his arm, covered in jewelry. They both walked right past Emma, neither one recognizing her. She didn't have time to be amused because just behind Leopold and Cora on the stairs was Regina, a vision in red and black, her low-cut dress showing off her neck and shoulders, her arms sheathed in white gloves that came well above the elbow. Emma was hypnotized by her beauty. As Regina approached Emma she imitated the gentlemen's stance, hand behind her back. Regina extended her gloved hand and Emma took it, kissing the back of her fingers. Regina flushed and glanced around nervously, no one seemed to pay them any mind. She smiled at Emma.

"I saw that in a nickelodeon once, and I always wanted to do it." Emma smirked.

"Leopold, surely you remember Miss Swan." Regina reintroduced the woman.

"Swan! I didn't recognize you. Amazing. You almost pass for a lady." He chuckled in surprise.

"Almost." Emma agreed sourly. The party descended to dinner and they encountered Belle Brown, wearing a green beaded dress, tight and showy. Her brown hair was swept up in a simple bun. Belle grinned when she saw Emma, and as they were going into the dining room she walked next to her, speaking low.

"Ain't nothing to it, is there, Emma?" she asked.

"Yeah, you just dress like you're attending a funeral and keep your nose up." She scoffed. Belle chuckled.

"Remember, the only thing they respect is money, so just act like you've got a lot of it and you're in the club." She advised. They entered the swirling throng and Regina leaned close to Emma pointing out several notables.

"There's Countess Rothes. And that's Thomas Astor, the richest man on the ship. His little wifey there, Ashley, is my age and in a delicate condition. See how she's trying to hide it. Quite the scandal." She narrated nodding toward another a couple. "And over there that's Sir Frederick, and Katherine Midas, she designs naughty lingerie among her many talents. Very popular with the royals." Leopold was engrossed in a conversation with a group of men and Regina pivoted Emma smoothly to show her another couple dressed impeccably.

"And that's Phillip James and his mistress, Madame Aurora, Mrs. James is at home with the children, of course." Regina whispered. Leopold, meanwhile, was accepting the praise of his male counterparts, who were looking at Regina like a prized show horse.

"She is splendid."

"Thank you."

"Leo is a lucky man. I know him well, and it can only be luck." Cora stepped over, hearing the last statement, she took Leopold's arm, somewhat coquettishly.

"How can you say that? Leopold White is a great catch!" She grinned at him. The entourage strolled into the dining room and took their seats at a grand table. Everyone assumed that Emma was one of them. She never faltered even though she was nervous. They thought new money, obviously, but still a member of the club. That was until Cora leaned forward and smiled coyly.  
>"Tell us of the accommodations in steerage, Miss Swan, I hear they are quite good on this ship." She pretended to be interested when really she was just pointing out the rank that Emma held.<p>

"The best I've seen, Ma'am, hardly any rats." She answered. Regina motioned surreptitiously for Emma to take her napkin off of her plate and she did so.

"Miss Swan is joining us from third class. She was of some assistance to my fiancée last night." Leopold staked his claim, again. People started to whisper, Emma became the subject of furtive glances.

"How do you take your caviar, ma'am?" A water asked. Emma lifted her hand.

"No caviar for me, thanks." She turned to Leopold. "Never did like it much." She looked at Regina, pokerfaced and Regina gave a small smile.

"And where exactly do you live, Miss Swan?" Cora tried again to push her back into her place.

"Well, it's a big world, and I want to see it all before I go. My father was always talking about going to see the ocean. He died in the town he was born in, and never did see it. You can't wait around, because you never know what hand you're going to be dealt next. See, my folks died in a fire when I was eight, and I've been on the road since." A few gasps were heard at the young age of abandonment but she pushed on. "Something like that teaches you to take life as it comes at you. To make each day count." She looked at Regina. Belle raised her glass in a salute.

"Well said, Emma." She smiled. Regina raised her glass, looking at Emma.

"To making it count." She said. Everyone raised their glasses and repeated the phrase. Cora was annoyed that Emma had scored a point and she pressed the woman further.

"How is it that you have the means to travel, Miss Swan?"

"I work my way from place to place. Tramp steamers and such. I won my ticket on Titanic here in a lucky hand at poker." She glanced at Regina. "A very lucky hand."

"All life is a game of luck." A man said.

"A real man makes his own luck." Leopold interjected. After the meal was served and they ate until they were full a waiter arrived with cigars in a humidor on a wheeled cart. The men started clipping ends and lighting. Regina leaned over to Emma.

"Next it'll be brandies in the Smoking Room." She said low.

"Well, join me for brandy, gentlemen?" Leopold stood.

"Now they retreat into a cloud of smoke and congratulate each other on being masters of the universe." Regina narrated. Emma snickered quietly.

"It was good of you to come, Miss Swan, will you be extending your stay with the ladies?" Leopold drew attention to the guest again. Emma stood and shook her head.

"No, I believe I will be heading back." She said.

"Probably best, it'll be all fashion and child rearing, wouldn't interest you." He smirked. Emma swallowed hard and nodded again. The gentlemen exited and Regina turned to Emma.

"Must you go?" She looked on pleadingly.

"Time for my coach to turn back into a pumpkin." She leaned over to take her hand. Cora watched with disgust as the other woman kissed the back of her daughter's fingers in a gentlemanly display. What she didn't see was Emma slipping a folded note into the palm of Regina's hand. Cora scowled as Emma walked away across the enormous room. Regina covertly opened the note below table level. It read: "Make it count. Meet me at the clock."

Shortly after she excused herself. She crossed the A-Deck foyer and spotted Emma at the landing above. Emma had her back to her, studying the ornate clock with its carved figures of Honor and Glory. It softly struck the hour. Regina swept up the staircase toward her. She turned and smiled at her.

"Want to go to a real party?" She tempted.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The room was crowded and alive with music, laughter and raucous carrying on. An ad hoc band was gathered near the upright piano, honking out lively stomping music on the fiddle, accordion and tambourine. People of all ages were dancing, drinking beer and wine, smoking, laughing, even brawling. Neal handed Regina a pint of beer and she drank it. Emma danced with a young girl on her feet. As the tune ended Regina leaned down to the little girl.

"May I cut in, miss?" She asked. The girl stared up at her with wide eyes.

"You're still the best dancer in the room." Emma promised to the youth. She scampered off. Emma and Regina faced each other. Regina was trembling as Emma took her right hand in her left. Her other hand slid to the small of her back. It was an electrifying moment.

"We're going to have to stand a little closer." Emma whispered and pulled her closer, Regina gasped lightly and looked into Emma's pale green eyes.

"I don't know the steps." She said, her voice shaking.

"Just move with me. Don't think." Emma responded. The music started and they were off. It was a little awkward at first, then she started to get into it. She grinned at Emma as she started to get the rhythm of the steps.

"Wait! Stop!" She pulled away. She bent down and pulled off her high heeled shoes and flung them to Neal. She grabbed Emma and they plunged back into the fray, dancing faster as the music sped up. They danced for a long while until Regina just had to take a break. The tune ended in a mad rush and Emma stepped away from Regina with a flourish allowing her to take a bow. Exhilarated and slightly tipsy, she did a graceful ballet ployer, feet turned out perfectly. Everyone laughed and applauded, she was a hit with the steerage folk. They moved to a table, flushed and sweaty. Regina grabbed Ruby's cigarette and took a big drag. She was feeling cocky. Ruby was grinning. Neal walked up with a pint for each of them and Regina chugged hers showing off.

"You think a first class girl can't drink?" She laughed. Everybody else was dancing and a man crashed into Neal, who sloshed his beer over Regina's dress. She laughed, not a care in the world, but Emma pushed the man away.

"So, you think you're big tough men? Let's see you do this." In her stocking feet she assumed a ballet stance, arms raised, and went up on point, taking her entire weight on the tips of her toes. The guys gaped and Emma grinned widely. Regina's face screwed up in pain and her feet fell flat.

"Ow! I haven't done that in years." She laughed and Emma caught her as she lost her balance and everyone cracked up. The door to the well deck opened a few inches as Loepold's right hand man, Sidney, poked his head through and watched through the gap. He saw Emma holding Regina, both of them laughing. He closed the door.

Emma and Regina escaped to the deck at night. It was so bright and clear and the stars blazed overhead. They were still giddy from the party, they were singing a popular song and they fumbled with the words and broke down laughing. They reached the first class entrance, but they didn't go straight in, not wanting the evening to end. Through the doors the sound of the ship's orchestra wafted gently. Regina leaned back and stared at the stars.

"Look, isn't it magnificent, so grand and endless." She smiled and moved to the rail and leaned on it.

"They're such small people, Emma, my crowd. They think they're giants on the earth, but they're not even dust in God's eye. They live inside this tiny champagne bubble, and someday that bubble's going to burst." Emma leaned at the rail next to her, their hands just touching. It was the slightest contact imaginable, and all either one of them could feel was that square inch of skin where their hands were touching.

"You're not one of them, there's been a mistake." Emma said.

"A mistake?"

"Uh, huh, you got mailed to the wrong address." She explained.

"I did, didn't I?" Regina laughed and pointed suddenly. "Look! A shooting star!"

"My father used to say that whenever you saw one, it was a soul going to heaven." Emma said absently.

"I like that, aren't we supposed to wish on it?" Regina asked. Emma looked at her and found that they were suddenly very close together. She couldn't help but think it would be so easy to move another couple of inches, to kiss her. Regina seemed to think the same thing.

"What would you wish for?" Emma asked. After a beat, Regina pulled back.

"Something I can't have," she smiled sadly "Goodnight, Emma, I had a wonderful time tonight, thank you." She left the rail and hurried through the first class entrance.

"Regina!" Emma shouted. The door banged shut and she was gone, back to her world.

-The Heart Will Go On-

April 14th, 1912 was a bright, clear Sunday. Sunlight splashed across the promenade and Regina and Leopold were having breakfast in silence. Mary-Margaret was up with her tutor studying and the tension was palpable. Regina wished the annoying little girl was there to break the rigidity of the moment.

"I had hoped you would come to me last night." Leopold said sipping his tea.

"I was tired." Regina answered quietly.

"Yes, your exertions below decks were no doubt exhausting." He said. Regina stiffened.

"I see you had that undertaker of a manservant follow me." She said.

"You will never behave like that again! Do you understand?" He asked loudly.

"I'm not some foreman in your mills that you can command! I am your fiancée." Regina responded. Leopold exploded, sweeping the breakfast china off the table with a crash. He moved to her in one shocking moment, glowering over her and gripping the sides of her chair, so she was trapped between his arms.

"Yes, you are! And my wife, in practice, if not yet by law, so you will honor me, as a wife is required to honor her husband. I will not be made out a fool! Is this in any way unclear?" He snapped. Regina shrunk down into her chair. She saw her maid standing in the doorway, frozen. Leopold followed Regina's glance and straightened up. He stalked past the maid and left the mess behind.

"We had a little accident, I'm sorry." Regina said sliding from her chair and starting to pick up broken pieces of glass.

"It's alright Miss, I've got it." The maid said quickly as she pulled Regina away from it.

An hour later Regina was in the middle of helping her mother with her corset. The tight bindings did not inhibit Cora's fury at all.

"You are not to see that girl again, do you understand me, Regina? I forbid it!" She snapped. Regina pulled the corset strings with both hands.

"Oh, stop it, Mother. You'll give yourself a nosebleed." Cora pulled away from her, and crossed to the door, locking it.

"Regina, this is not a game! Our situation is precarious. You know the money's gone!" She wheeled on her.

"Of course I know it's gone. You remind me every day." Regina answered calmly.

"Your father left us nothing but a legacy of bad debts hidden by a good name, and that name is the only card we have to play." Cora glared. Regina turned her around and grabbed the corset strings again. Cora sucked her waist in and Regina pulled.

"I don't understand you, it is a fine match with Leopold and it will insure our survival." Cora said.

"How can you put this on my shoulders?" Regina asked hurt and lost. Cora turned to her and the naked fear was apparent in her eyes.

"Do you want to see me working as a seamstress? Is that what you want? Do you want to see our fine things sold at auction, our memories scattered to the winds? My God, Regina, how can you be so selfish?" Cora asked dramatically.

"It is so unfair." Regina deflated.

"Of course it's unfair. We're women. Our choices are never easy." Her mother responded. Regina pulled the corset tighter.

"Now, finish up, we've got a service to attend." Cora ordered.

-The Heart Will Go On-

At the divine service the captain led the large group in a hymn. Regina and Cora sang in the middle of the group. Sidney stood well back, keeping an eye on Regina. He noticed a commotion at the entry doors where Emma had been halted by two stewards. She was dressed in her third class men's clothes and she stood there looking out of place.

"Look, you're not supposed to be in here." The steward told her.

"I was just here last night, don't you remember?" She saw Sidney walking toward her. "He'll tell you!"

"Mr. White and Miss Mills continue to be most appreciative of your assistance. They asked me to give you this in gratitude." He held out two twenty dollar bills which Emma refused to take.

"I don't want money, I – "

"And also to remind you that you hold a third class ticket and your presence here is no longer appropriate." He cut in. Emma spotted Regina but the brunette didn't see her.

"I just need to talk to Regina for a – "

"Gentlemen, please see that Miss Swan gets back where she belongs." He handed the twenties over to the stewards. "And that she stays there."

"Yes sir!" The steward said before grabbing Emma's arm. "Come along you."

-The Heart Will Go On-

She formed a plan and decided to act it out later on in the day but Regina was never away from her family. Emma walked with determination and was followed by Neal and Ruby. She quickly climbed the steps to the B-Deck and stepped over the gate separating third from second class.

"She's a goddess amongst mortals, there's no denying it, but she's in another world, Em, forget her. She closed the door." Neal said. Emma moved furtively to the wall below the A-deck promenade.

"It was them, not her." Emma glanced around the deck. "Ready…go." Neal shook his head resignedly and put his hands together, crouching down. Emma stepped into Neal's hands and got boosted to the next deck, where she scrambled nimbly over the railing onto the first class deck.

"She's not being logical, I tell ya." Neal turned to Ruby.

"Love is not logical." She shrugged. A woman was playing with her son and daughter and her overcoat and sun hat on a deck chair nearby. Emma emerged from behind one of the huge deck cranes and calmly picked up the coat and hat. She walked away, slipping into the coat and pulling her hair back with a loose rubber-band from around her wrist. She put the hat on at a jaunty angle. At a distance she could pass for a lady.

Regina was on a tour of the ship from the Master Shipbuilder, Mr. Gold, and they were in the chartroom when a wireless operator hustled in and skirted around the tour group to hand a Marconi-gram to the captain.

"Another ice warning sir, this one from the Baltic." He informed.

"Thank you, Sparks." The captain dismissed him and glanced at the message before nonchalantly putting it in his pocket. He nodded to Regina and the group.

"Not to worry, it's quite normal for this time of year. In fact, we're speeding up. I've just ordered the last boilers lit." He smiled proudly. Mr. Gold scowled slightly before motioning the group toward the door. They exited and were lead along the boat dock.

"Mr. Gold, I did the sum in my head, and with the number of lifeboats times the capacity you mentioned, forgive me, but it seems there are not enough for everyone aboard." Regina spoke up. Mr. Gold turned and faced her.

"About half, actually, Regina, you miss nothing, do you? I put in these new types of davits, which can take an extra row of boats here," he gestured along the deck, "but it was thought, by some, that the deck would look too cluttered. So, I was over-ruled." He said regretfully. Leopold slapped the side of the boat.

"Waste of deck space as it is, on an unsinkable ship!" He laughed. Mary-Margaret laughed and smiled proudly up at her father. She skipped beside him happily.

"Sleep soundly, young Regina, I have built you a good ship, strong and true. She's all the lifeboat you need." Mr. Gold promised. As they were passing a lifeboat, a lady turned from the rail and walked up behind the group. It was Emma. She tapped Regina on the arm and she turned and gasped. She motioned and Regina cut away from the group toward a door which Emma held open. They ducked into the gym and Emma closed the door behind her and glanced out through the ripple-glass window to the starboard rail. They were alone in the room.

"Emma, this is impossible, I can't see you." Regina said. Emma took her by the shoulders.

"Regina, you're no picnic, you're a spoiled little brat even, but under that you're a strong, pure heart, and you're the most amazing, astounding girl I've ever known and I – "

"Emma, I – "

"No wait, let me try to get this out. You're amazing, and I know I have nothing to offer you, Regina. I know that. But I'm involved now. You jump, I jump, remember? I can't turn away without knowing you're going to be alright." Emma confessed. Regina felt tears coming to her eyes. Emma was so open and real, not like anyone she had ever known.

"You're making this very hard. I'll be fine. Really." Regina tried to stay strong and keep her voice steady.

"I don't think so, they've got you in a glass jar like some butterfly, and you're gonna die if you don't break out. Maybe not right away, 'cause you're strong. But sooner or later the fire in you is gonna go out." Emma said desperately.

"It's not up to you to save me, Emma." Regina said.

"You're right. Only you can do that." She took a step back.

"I have to go back, they'll miss me. Please, Emma, for both our sakes, leave me alone." She pleaded and ran out onto the deck. Emma watched her go through the rippled windows of the gym.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Regina and her mother met up with a few of the other socialite women for tea. As usual, Regina did little to contribute to the conversation. She was too caught up watching a mother and daughter have their tea. The mother was constantly correcting the girl's posture and the way she held her tea cup. The girl couldn't have been older than four, wearing white gloves and daintily picking up a cookie. She was trying so hard to please, her expression serious. Regina watched her, remembering how it was when she was growing up, the relentless conditioning from Cora, her mother used to pinch her under the table to make her sit up straight. Regina turned to Mary-Margaret who sat between her and Cora. The young girl sat ramrod straight and sipped at her tea silently. Children were meant to be seen not heard and it was a privilege for her to be invited to tea with the adult women. Mary-Margaret was eight and the conditioning was deeply ingrained already. She raised the napkin in her lap to her lips and blotted neatly before setting it back down again. Regina thought she would throw up.

-The Heart Will Go On-

The Titanic steamed forward, cutting through the water like a blade. In the dusk light, as if lit by the embers of a giant fire it moved. Emma stood on the bow of the ship, she was right at the apex of the railing, it was her favorite spot. She closed her eyes, letting the chill wind clear her head. She heard a voice behind her.

"Hello, Emma." The blonde turned around and Regina was standing there. "I changed my mind." She said. Emma smiled at her, her eyes drinking the brunette in. Regina's cheeks were red with the chill wind and her eyes sparkled, her hair blew wildly about her face.

"Ruby said you might be up – "

"Shhh, come here." Emma put her hands on her waist, as if she were going to kiss her. "Close your eyes." She instructed. Regina did, and Emma turned her to face forward, the way the ship was going. She pressed her gently to the rail, standing right behind her. Then Emma took Regina's hands and raised them until she was standing with her arms outstretched on each side. Regina was letting herself be guided. When Emma lowered her hands, Regina's arms stayed up, like wings.

"Okay, open them." She said. Regina gasped. There was nothing in her field of vison but water. It seemed there was no ship under them at all, just the two of them soaring. The Atlantic unrolled toward her, a hammered copper shield under the dusk sky. There was only the wind, and the hiss of the water fifty feet below.

"I'm flying!" Regina exclaimed. She leaned forward, arching her back and Emma put her hands on her waist to steady her. She began singing softly. Regina closed her eyes, feeling herself floating weightless far above the sea. She smiled dreamily, the leaned back, gently pressing her back against Emma's chest. She pushed slightly forward too. Slowly, Emma raised her hands, arms outstretched, and they met Regina's, fingertips gently touching. Then their fingers intertwined, moving ever so slowly their fingers caressed through and around each other like the bodies of two lovers. Emma tipped her face forward into Regina's blowing hair, letting the sent wash over her. Regina turned her head until her lips were near Emma's. She lowered her arm, turning further, until she found Emma's mouth. Emma wrapped her arms around her from behind, and they kissed, slowly and tremulously, and then with building passion.

"Wish we didn't lose those binoculars." The lookout said to his mate from high above in the crow's nest. He pointed down to the two women below.

After the sun had set, Regina brought Emma back to her suite. Emma was overwhelmed by the luxury of the room. She set her sketchbook and drawing materials on the marble table.

"Will this light do? Don't artists need good light?" Regina asked. Emma smiled.

"Zat is true, I am not used to working in such 'orreeble conditons." She answered in a bad French accent as she looked around. "Hey, Monet!" She spotted the paintings. She crouched next to the paintings stacked against the wall.

"Isn't it great, the use of color? I saw him once, through a hole in his garden fence in Giverny." Emma said as Regina walked into the adjoining walk-in wardrobe closet. She went to the safe and started working the combination. Emma was fascinated.

"Leopold insists on lugging this thing everywhere." Regina said.

"Should I be expecting him anytime soon?" Emma asked looking to the door.

"Not as long as the cigars and brandy hold out." Regina answered. She unlocked the safe. She glanced up and met Emma's eyes in the mirror behind the safe. She opened it and removed the necklace. Then held it out to Emma who took it nervously.

"What is it? A sapphire?" She questioned.

"A diamond, a very rare diamond, called the Heart of the Ocean" She answered. Emma gazed at wealth beyond her comprehension.

"I want you to draw me like your French girl. Wearing this." Regina smiled at her. "Wearing only this." Emma looked up at her surprised.

"Uhm, yeah, okay." She agreed nervously.

Regina stood in her dressing room staring into the mirror as she pulled a butterfly comb out of her hair. She shook her head and her hair fell free around her shoulders. In the sitting room, Emma was laying out her pencils like surgical tools. Her sketchbook was open and ready. She looked up as Regina came into the room, wearing a silk kimono.

"The last thing I need is another picture of me looking like a china doll. As a paying customer, I expect to get what I want." She handed over a dime and stepped back, parting the kimono. The blue stone rested against her pale breast. Her heart was pounding hard as she slowly lowered the robe. Emma appeared to be completely enraptured and the kimono dropped to the floor.

"Tell me when it looks right to you." Regina said posing on the divan, settling like a cat into position.

"Uh, just bend your left leg a little and…and lower your head. Eyes to me. That's it." Emma started to sketch, she dropped her pencil and Regina stifled a laugh.

"I believe you are blushing, Ms. Big Artiste. I can't imagine Monsieur Monet blushing." Regina said.

"He does landscapes." Emma pointed out, tensely. Despite her nervousness, Emma drew with sure strokes, and what emerged was the best thing she had ever done. Regina's pose was languid, her hands beautiful, and her eyes radiated her energy.

When the drawing was finished Regina dressed and leaned over Emma's shoulder as she signed the artwork.

"Date it, Emma, I want to always remember this night." Regina said. Emma did: 4/14/1912. Regina meanwhile scribbled a note on a piece of Titanic stationary. She accepted the drawing from Emma and crossed to the safe in the wardrobe. She put the diamond back in the safe and placed the drawing and note on top of it. She closed the door with a heavy clunk.

Outside in the dark night the Titanic glided across an unnatural sea, black and calm as a pool of oil. The ships lights were mirrored almost perfectly in the black water. The sky was brilliant with stars.

-The Heart Will Go On-

Regina was fully dressed now and she returned to the sitting room where Emma sat on the couch. They heard a key in the lock and Regina took Emma's hand and led her silently through the bedrooms. Leopold's right hand man, Sidney, entered by the sitting room door.

"Miss Regina! Hello?" He called. He heard a door open and went through Leopold's room toward Regina's. Emma and Regina came out of the stateroom and closed the door. She led her quickly along the corridor toward the B deck foyer. They were halfway across the open space when the sitting room door opened in the corridor and Sidney came out. The man saw Emma with Regina and hustled after them.

"Come on!" Regina shouted. She and Emma broke into a run, surprising the few ladies and gentlemen about. Rose led her past the stairs to the bank of elevators. They ran into one, shocking the hell out of the operator.

"Take us down, quickly!" She ordered. The operator scrambled to comply. Emma even helped him close the steel gate. Sidney ran up as the lift started to descend. He slammed one hand on the bars of the gate and Regina made a very rude and unladylike gesture at him and laughed as Sidney disappeared above. The operator gaped at the two women.

Sidney emerged from another lift and ran to the one Emma and Regina were in. The operator was just closing the gate to go back up. Sidney ran around the bank of elevators and scanned the foyer, he didn't spot either woman and instead tried the stairs going down to F deck.

F deck was a functional space, it allowed access to a number of machine spaces such as fan rooms and boiler uptakes. Emma and Regina were leaning against a wall, laughing.

"Pretty tough for a valet, this fella." Emma smirked.

"He's an ex-pinkerton, Leopold's father hired him to keep Leo out of trouble…to make sure he always got back to the hotel with his wallet and watch, after some crawl through the less reputable parts of town." Regina explained.

"Kinda like we're doing right now – uh oh!" Emma exclaimed as Sidney spotted them from a cross-corridor nearby. He charged toward them and Emma and Regina ran around a corner into a blind alley. There was one door, marked CREW ONLY, and Emma flung it open. They entered a roaring fan room, with no way out but a ladder going down. Emma latched the deadbolt on the door, and Sidney slammed into it a moment later. Emma grinned at Regina, pointing to the ladder.

"After you, m'lady." She gestured. They came down the escape ladder and looked around in amazement. It was like a vision of hell itself, with the roaring furnaces and black figures moving in the smoky glow. They ran the length of the boiler room, dodging amazed stokers, and trimmers with their wheelbarrows of coal.

"Carry on! Don't mind us!" Emma shouted over the din. They ran through the open watertight door into the boiler room. Emma pulled her through the fiercely hot alley between two boilers and they wound up in the dark, out of sight of the working crew. They watched from the shadows as the stokers worked in the hellish glow, shoveling goal into the insatiable maws of the furnaces. The whole place thundered with the roar of the fires. Emma kissed Regina's face, tasting the sweat trickling down from her forehead. They kissed passionately in the steamy, pounding darkness.

They ran out of the furnace rooms and entered a storage area. They weaved, laughing, between the rows of stacked cargo. Regina hugged herself against the cold, after the dripping heat of the boiler room. They came upon a brand new Renault touring car, latched down to a pallet. It looked like a royal coach from a fairy tale, its brass trim and headlamps nicely set off by its deep burgundy color. Regina climbed into the plushly upholstered seat, acting very royal. There were cut crystal bud vases on the walls, each containing a rose. Emma jumped into the driver's seat, enjoying the feel of the leather and wood.

"Where to, Miss?" Emma asked.

"To the stars." Regina answered pulling Emma over the seat and into the back. She landed next to her, and her breathing seemed loud in the quiet darkness. Emma looked at her and Regina smiled, it was a moment of truth.

"Are you nervous?" Emma asked.

"Au contraire, ma Cherie." Regina said. Emma stroked her face and she kissed her artist's fingers.

"Put your hands on me, Emma." Regina invited. Emma kissed her and Regina slid down in the seat under the blonde's weight.

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